Students in the Biology Honors classroom are all dressed in blue. Bead necklaces and blue face paint decorate the excited high schoolers; the Pep Rally will be held in the gym in just an hour or so. Mr. Bruneau is still managing to lead a discussion about viruses, focusing on Ebola and recent developments of the outbreak. The class has completed an activity packet and the discussion questions are being answered aloud as a class forum. After reading the question, Mr. Bruneau asks a volunteer to answer. If the answer is correct he might say, "Good," and elaborate on the topic for a minute. He then might ask another student to share any additional information. A couple times after the question was completely answered, a few students raised their hands with questions or comments that they had about that certain topic. In response, Mr. Bruneau either answered the question himself or asked others to answer.
When the class reached the last few questions, Mr. Bruneau started to not immediately call on students with raised hands. Twice he indicated to the class, "I have already heard from these students, can someone else volunteer an answer?" In addition to this management technique, Mr. Bruneau also had to redirect some students to behave in a more learner-friendly way. Some questions were answered sarcastically by students, and some students answered without considering the sensitivity of the subject. Mr. Bruneau would tell the student to participate without sarcasm, and to articulate their responses more thoughtfully. The discussion lasted almost the whole period, and it seemed that all of the students had responded at some point.
After observing this rigorous class discussion, I could see that Mr. Bruneau emphasizes a few roles in the classroom. First, Mr. Bruneau encourages students to be active, comfortable and eager to share knowledge in the classroom. Mr. Bruneau made sure that class focus was constantly on the discussion. He provided many opportunities for peers to respond to class questions and each other. Opinions were eagerly shared and elaborated upon by students when asked for. When the opportunity arose, Mr. Bruneau would let students make counter points. Mr. Bruneau took extra measures to make sure all students had a chance to speak. When some students diverted from the discussion and did not respond seriously, he corrected them to ensure other students could still benefit from each other's responses. Second, Mr. Bruneau seems to establish himself as the main source of knowledge and direction. When students answered incorrectly, Mr. Bruneau provided the correct one (if another student could not.) Students would listen to him elaborate on a detail or new topic to understand the concept better.
In a future classroom, I would like my students to feel comfortable in sharing their ideas. Hopefully I will provide enough opportunities for them to gain interest in the material, and then let them shape their own learning by providing responses and reasoning with each other. I would like to act as a guide rather than a source of correct information, encouraging students to answer questions for themselves. Mr. Bruneau did a good job of incorporating content knowledge with current events to help students make a better picture of the Biology concepts.
When the class reached the last few questions, Mr. Bruneau started to not immediately call on students with raised hands. Twice he indicated to the class, "I have already heard from these students, can someone else volunteer an answer?" In addition to this management technique, Mr. Bruneau also had to redirect some students to behave in a more learner-friendly way. Some questions were answered sarcastically by students, and some students answered without considering the sensitivity of the subject. Mr. Bruneau would tell the student to participate without sarcasm, and to articulate their responses more thoughtfully. The discussion lasted almost the whole period, and it seemed that all of the students had responded at some point.
After observing this rigorous class discussion, I could see that Mr. Bruneau emphasizes a few roles in the classroom. First, Mr. Bruneau encourages students to be active, comfortable and eager to share knowledge in the classroom. Mr. Bruneau made sure that class focus was constantly on the discussion. He provided many opportunities for peers to respond to class questions and each other. Opinions were eagerly shared and elaborated upon by students when asked for. When the opportunity arose, Mr. Bruneau would let students make counter points. Mr. Bruneau took extra measures to make sure all students had a chance to speak. When some students diverted from the discussion and did not respond seriously, he corrected them to ensure other students could still benefit from each other's responses. Second, Mr. Bruneau seems to establish himself as the main source of knowledge and direction. When students answered incorrectly, Mr. Bruneau provided the correct one (if another student could not.) Students would listen to him elaborate on a detail or new topic to understand the concept better.
In a future classroom, I would like my students to feel comfortable in sharing their ideas. Hopefully I will provide enough opportunities for them to gain interest in the material, and then let them shape their own learning by providing responses and reasoning with each other. I would like to act as a guide rather than a source of correct information, encouraging students to answer questions for themselves. Mr. Bruneau did a good job of incorporating content knowledge with current events to help students make a better picture of the Biology concepts.